Cher performs onstage at the American Airlines Center on Wednesday, March 26, 2014.

“Hello? Can you hear me?”

Cher’s voice resonated from behind a curtain at a packed American Airlines Center in Dallas. Due to audio difficulties, the pop legend had been standing in costume for 25 minutes waiting for the show to start, and she didn’t seem enthused.

The fans, on the other hand, were anxiously squirming. That Wednesday night show was, most likely, the last opportunity they would get to see Cher in concert on what she would later call her “new and improved farewell, farewell tour.”

Cher may have been the main event, but entertainment began as soon as attendees walked in the venue. Fans — most in the 50-years-plus range — dressed in lavish costumes with no shortage of sequins, rhinestones or feathers. A few fanboys in the first row wore homemade T-shirts with iron-on pictures of previous times they met Cher. One couple opted for a 1960s head-to-toe Sonny and Cher look, while another uncannily resembled openers Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo.

Celebrating 35 years on stage, Benatar and Giraldo impressively rocked the highlights of their catalog, including “Shadows of the Night,” “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” and “Heartbreaker,” which included a mini reprise of Johnny Cash, Led Zeppelin, and the White Stripes songs. Amazingly, Benatar’s gritty and powerful voice hasn’t wilted.

None could upstage the queen diva, however. From the moment Cher arrived on stage in a dazzling pharaoh outfit and feather headdress for “Woman’s World,” the concert was a non-stop sensory feast with no less than 10 eccentric costume changes, including a variety of styled and colored wigs.

After “Strong Enough,” Cher swiftly morphed from Egyptian pharaoh to devilish temptress, emerging from the stage floor on a sparkling chandelier for “Dressed to Kill,” off 2013’s Closer to the Truth. She then jetted back to the ’60s with a red sequin dress and feather jacket for “The Beat Goes On” before becoming: the star of her own circus (“Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves”), a glamorous Indian chief in floor-length headdress (“Half Breed”), a burlesque dancer (“Welcome to Burlesque”), byzantine goddess (“I Hope You Find It”) and gladiator (“Take it Like a Man”), among others.

In what the singer said was a first for the tour, Cher performed “I Got You Babe” as a duet with a video of Sonny Bono, who seemed to be looking directly at her.

Ornate set pieces constantly flew on and off stage between songs, much like I’d expect to see at Cher’s recent Las Vegas residency. And a team of skilled dancers and aerial artists entertained during the gaps for wardrobe changes. Just watching the spectacle was exhausting.

The performance was most explicitly an homage to Cher’s career. Intermittent video montages chronicled her work both on stage and screen.

And age is clearly just a number: At 67, she wowed the audience with exact vocal execution, and she looked fabulous doing it. She can even still pull off her outfits of yesteryear — like a costume Wednesday night that was strikingly reminiscent of her black, barely-there leotard from the “If I Could Turn Back Time” video.

If this really was goodbye, Cher went out with a bang. Though it’s obvious her followers would welcome a third chance to dance her out the door.

Nobody knew exactly what to make of Neneh Cherry in 1989. Not that it mattered. Her slamming blend of pop, rap, R&B and dance did all the convincing. Cherry’s stateside solo debut, the chaotically intoxicating Raw Like Sushi, was like nothing else at the close of the decade. In fact, her bold sonic mixture would predate the alternative rap and trip-hop musical movements. Mostly, Sushi was bursting with personality. It was an immediate statement, a record that introduced us to a singer and rapper with a free spirit and a socially conscious soul.

The two U.S. radio hits, the brilliant “Buffalo Stance” and the sassy “Kisses On the Wind,” were slices of urban life aimed at slashing the thugs and the users while uplifting the offbeat, good-natured youths. Check out the “Buffalo Stance” video here, and the “Kisses On the Wind” clip here. Cherry, who sang and rapped at will, exhibited such relaxed command of her musical melange that there was no other choice but to jam right along with her.

Raw Like Sushi comes chock-full of great tunes, including the funked-up, hip-hop gem “Inna City Mamma,” which explores the plight of teen mothers in the ghetto; the idealistic, uplifting “The Next Generation;” and “Heart,” a kiss-off to a duplicitous friend featuring the classic line, “God, you’re so digital girl.”

Cherry’s career would be spotty at best after Raw Like Sushi. Her sophomore solo effort, 1992′s Homebrew, didn’t deliver any hits. Her third disc, 1996′s Man, wasn’t even released on this side of the pond. Cherry, the stepdaughter of jazz trumpeter Don Cherry who was born in Sweden and raised in New York City, has kept busy making guest appearances on a variety of other artists’ records. She’s also done plenty of collaborating. In fact, her upcoming disc The Cherry Thing, to be released June 19, is a pairing with jazz trio The Thing.